Helios Gómez

Upon his return to Spain, he joined the Communist Party of Spain (PCE), seeing it as the force that was best organised to resist fascism. From the 1940s, when he was imprisoned by the Francoist dictatorship, he began focusing on his writing and presenting Romani themes through his creative work. His poetry was collected and published posthumously in 2006.

• Name — Helios Gómez • Birth Name — Helios Gómez Rodríguez • Born — 27 May 1905 • Birthplace — Seville • Died — 19 September 1956 • Place of death — Barcelona • Resting Place — Montjuïc Cemetery • Occupation — Painter, graphic designer, writer • Political Party — Communist Party of Spain • Other Party — Confederación Nacional del Trabajo • Movement — Anarchism in Spain

Helios Gómez was born in 1905, in Triana, a predominantly Calé working class neighbourhood of Seville. From a young age, he worked as a painter and became involved in the Spanish anarchist movement. His occupation as an artist allowed him to be accepted by wider Spanish society, which considered Romani identity to be acceptable only through artistic expression, although anti-Romani sentiment would continue to be expressed towards him in press reports. He published his first illustrations for the anarchist writer Felipe Alaiz and exhibited his early work at the radical art space Café Kursaal. Due to his activism, in 1927, he was forced to flee Spain. He then travelled throughout much of Western Europe, meeting members of avant-garde art movements and the labour movement. His time in Europe left an influence on his art style, which drew inspiration from cubism, expressionism and futurism. In 1930, he returned to Spain and settled in Barcelona, where he began working for the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) as a printmaker for its newspapers, posters and books. By this time, he had decided to renounce anarchism and join the Communist Party of Spain (PCE), as he felt the international communist movement was best organised to combat the threat of rising fascism. He participated in communist rallies, which saw him imprisoned in Barcelona's Model prison, and fought in the ranks of the Communist Party of Spain during the Spanish Civil War. Months after the outbreak of the war, he gave an interview with the left magazine Crónica (magazine). Introduced by the paper as a "famous Gypsy illustrator and revolutionary artist", he spoke about the anti-fascist cause as a means to overcome anti-Romani sentiment and praised the Soviet Union for its social integration of Romani people in Russia. By 1938, he had rejoined the anarchist movement and oversaw the printing layout of the newspaper El frente. When the Nationalists launched their Catalonia Offensive, he fled the country and was subsequently interned in French concentration camps. After the war, when news began to emerge about the Romani Holocaust, he began to present himself more openly as a Romani person. He especially began to assert his Romani identity after his imprisonment by the Francoist dictatorship, when he was forced to paint the chapel in Barcelona's Model prison. Imprisoned from 1945 to 1946 and 1948 to 1954, he began focusing most of his efforts on his literary work. During this period, he wrote: two essays, including one on Romani art; two historical fiction novels, Gabrielillo Vargas, gitano rojo and Historia de los gitanos; an autobiographical epic poem titled Erika; and over 100 poems. Romani themes were present throughout his written works of this period, with Spanish artist Pedro G. Romero suggesting that he was motivated to assert his identity in a regime that suppressed the rights of Romani people. In 1956, Helios Gómez died in Barcelona.

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The authorities additionally record the headings Helios Gomez, Espartaco, Helio Gómez Rodri and Helio Gomez Rodri. His recorded language was Spanish.

Helios Gómez is recorded as painter, poet, writer, anarcho-syndicalist and poster artist.